RETURN TO THE CIRCLE: The launch of Artemis I
Only now (2022), the next programme to transport humans and robots to the Moon, called Artemis, is starting. The first Artemis I to be launched will not carry humans, only robots. It is rumored, but cannot yet be confirmed, that this moon landing is the first leg of a journey to the planet Mars. Perhaps this journey will start in 2024. After several postponements of the first Artemis 1 launch, the launch took place on 16 November 2022. The unmanned Artemis 1 mission is a test mission and is not aimed at landing the Orion capsule, which is designed to carry astronauts.
The primary objective of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems prior to crewed missions, operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield and recovering the crew module after re-entry, descent and collapse.
The mission will take about 25 days and the capsule will return to Earth on 11 December.
MAN IN THE FIELD: The story of NASA’s Apollo 11/17 missions
Man first set foot on the Moon in 1969. The mission that left Earth was the NASA space agency Apollo 11. It then carried three cosmonauts to the Moon. One of them was Neil Armstrong, who left the first human footprint on the moon. Apollo 11 was launched on 16 July 1969 and landed on 20 July 1969. Two of the three cosmonauts on the mission walked for two hours on the surface of the moon, collecting lunar material to return to Earth. In 1972, Apollo 17 carried three more cosmonauts to the Moon for the last time. After Apollo 17, the Apollo program was terminated.